ABS-2 is a Space Systems/Loral FS 1300 satellite launched in February 2014. It is positioned in geostationary orbit at 75° East and serves four continents across Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and CIS countries. The satellite provides fixed satellite services (FSS) including, video, data and telecommunication networks, corporate networks, cellular backhaul, IP trunking, mobility, and government and military services. It is owned and operated by
ABS at its
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...
facility.
Spacecraft
ABS-2 is built on
SSL 1300 satellite bus
A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held.
Bus-derived satellites are less customized than specially-produced satelli ...
and equipped with up to 32
C-band, 51
Ku-band and 6
Ka-band transponders
In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''.
In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...
. Total mass at lift off was , with the size of and span when in orbit.
On 17 June 2009, ABS announced that ABS-2 will be built by
Space Systems/Loral, with a launch initially planned for 2012. Due to financial delays, the contract did not get signed until 14 October 2010, delaying the launch to 2013.
Launch
The satellite was scheduled to launch on 23 January 2014, however the need to change an unspecified equipment in the launcher delayed it further.
Eventually
Ariane 5
Ariane 5 is a retired European heavy-lift space launch vehicle operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in French Guiana. It was used to deliver payloads into geostationar ...
ECA flight VA 217 successfully launched on 6 February 2014 at 21:30
UTC
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...
taking
Athena-Fidus
Athena-Fidus (Access on theatres for European allied forces nations-French Italian dual use satellite) is a French-Italian telecommunication satellite providing high-throughput secure communications to both nation's armed forces and their emerg ...
in the lower slot and ABS-2 in upper.
References
External links
Channel list of ABS2 Free Dish on Lyngsat website
{{Orbital launches in 2014
Satellites of South Korea
Satellite television